Clarence Drive & Finding Penguins

The wind got up overnight and we got woken up by an external flap I hadn’t secured slapping against the side of the canvas, and the caravan rocking.
When I came out of the caravan at 6:30sm I expected it to be miserable outside considering the wind, but there wasn’t a cloud in the blue sky, and the sun was just coming up.
Today had already been planned so after a couple of coffees we got dressed and then left camp just after 9am, our destination of the day was Bettys Bay and we arrived just before 10am and it was still pretty quiet with very few tourists. This is Penguin Town, where one colony of South African Penguins call home and they are protected. They came onto the shore this time of year to nest and breed and because they are endangered they have right of way for everything. If they nest in your back garden you have to leave them and make sure they have access to the beach. If they cross the road you have to wait. If they stop in the road you have to wait. Luckily we didn’t have that problem today and as soon as we pulled into the car park we saw our first couple of penguins. Once we were out of the car it became apparent that all of the bushes in the car park had little penguin sized holes in and they were all nesting sites.
We walked to the steps towards the main colony and there were penguins everywhere. To us it seemed like lots but this is the end of the season and is a fraction of what can be seen during the early breeding season.
We showed our wildcard to the lady at the gate and proceeded free of charge onto a boardwalk which took us over and around the nest colony. There were plenty of penguins to see and although it smelt a little fishy they did look quite cuddly.
After an hour of penguin watching in the very cold wind we decided to push on further and leaving Bettys Bay we turned left onto Clarence Drive the whale watching route. This is a route I have ridden many times virtually on Rouvy and was looking forward to the drive.
We drove a couple of miles and then came to the first lookout point where we stopped to lookout and get some pictures, then it was back in the car and we drove the entire scenic route. It was quite incredible just being able to look right out to sea watching for whales whilst driving along at 35mph. We didn’t see any whales but it’s not whale season.
We ended up stopping at a restaurant for lunch at midday and we both had milkshakes to drink and I ordered the nachos that came with a flanged fried onion and fries and Jaleopeno poppers. When my meal came out it was massive. I knew I couldn’t eat it all as I decided not to have the burger because I didn’t want bread because I wasn’t that hungry. This was one of the biggest meals I’ve ever had put infront of me. So big it was served on a frying pan.
I ate the onion first, big mistake. Then some of the chips before starting the nachos that were literally nachos in a block of melted cheese.
I left most of the nachos and chips. I was totally defeated and so was Ellie with her Double Stuffed mushroom. When we left we felt so fat we just wanted to sleep.
Back in the car we carried on driving Clarence Drive until we got to Gordon’s Bay where we stopped and went for a quick walk on the beach and a look around the shops. Then it was back in the car to make the journey home. TomTom wanted to take us down the motorway but we chose to go back the way we had come even though it was slightly longer it was far more scenic and enjoyable.
We finally got back to camp at 3:30pm and after a cup of tea and the sun still burning down I decided to go for a swim in the tidal pool at camp. There were lots of old people in there and when I got in it was so cold it actually hurt. I waited a few minutes for the stinging to go and even though I’m used to ice baths this sea was really cold. I lasted 10 minutes and then we went back to camp.
We’d already decided we didn’t need dinner tonight so we just chilled back at camp for the rest of the evening until it got dark and then headed indoors.En savoir plus